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A. Hofer, T. Mayr:
"Architecture for Drinking Water Supply. Seawater desalination for the Gaza Strip and its distribution by watershops";
Poster: XXII World Congress of Architecture uia2005istanbul, istanbul; 2005-07-03 - 2005-07-07; in: "Abstracts uia2005istanbul", (2005), 402.

Architecture for Drinking Water Supply
Seawater desalination for the Gaza Strip and its distribution by watershops.

At the beginning of the 21st century we are facing a serious water crisis. One out of six has no access to potable water. The Middle East has a long standing record of dispute over water resources, especially due to the Palestinian - Israeli conflict.
With the "Seawater Desalination Project, Deir al Balah" the Austrian Government decided to support the peace process in the Middle East and the Palestinian community. This infrastructure project is carried out by a cooperation between the Austrian Development Agency, an interdisciplinary planning team and Palestinian project partners.

Purified water, the final product of the desalination process, is distributed to the local public by so-called WATERSHOPS. The watershops figure as those objects to which the final consumers are directly exposed to. Therefore the watershop unit is being transformed into a minimized, yet multifunctional building bearing great similarity to a kiosk, since besides its purpose as a water distribution facility it may also be regarded in its social function as a meeting point in the neighbourhood. Thus the architecture of the watershops makes the product "Seawater Desalination" transparent to the local public.


Andreas Hofer, Tanja Mayr
Vienna, August 17, 2004